upend
Americanverb (used with object)
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to set on end, as a barrel or ship.
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to affect drastically or radically, as tastes, opinions, reputations, or systems.
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to defeat in competition, as in boxing or business.
verb (used without object)
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to become upended.
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to place the body back-end up, as a dabbling duck.
verb
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to turn or set or become turned or set on end
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(tr) to affect or upset drastically
Etymology
Origin of upend
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Similar results, or even speculative reports about the potency of new AI tools to upend industries, triggered significant declines for other companies in recent months.
Software stocks have fallen into a bear market due to investors’ fears that artificial intelligence will upend the industry.
Investors have spent the first couple of months of 2026 fretting about how AI could upend industries such as software, as well as Big Tech companies’ aggressive capital spending plans.
From Barron's
A new technology has come along—AI—that threatens to upend how Workday’s customers work, and leave Workday behind.
From Barron's
Fears that the technology will upend the software industry sent stocks tumbling earlier this month, and the selloff accelerated yesterday after a viral blog post about AI risks.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
